Jersey? Sure!

Katie's been making leaps and bounds when it comes to her "big kid"-ness lately. Just today, she pleasantly surprised her mom by picking out her clothes and getting dressed by herself while Traci was in the shower. (Unfortunately, Michael was watching Katie snag clothes from her closet; and he now knows how to pull clothes off hangers by the truckload.) Anyway, she picked out quite a loud outfit: her pink-and-blue Notre Dame jersey with bright pink polka-dot leggings. Guess the outfit was quite impressive to her buddy Connor... When he saw her at their playdate today, he had to go change into his own crazy jersey outfit! We'll see what couture fashion tomorrow brings!

Rain, Rain, Go Away! (and Other Stuff)

It's certainly starting to look like spring out there, with all of the rain storms that have come through our area lately. The kids have gotten plenty of use out of their snazzy rain coats and galoshes. And, more rain is set to come later this week! Guess it's good for the budding trees and flowers...

In other (more significant) news, Michael finally had his big 2.5-hour speech evaluation today with the county experts. We can't say enough about how well-behaved both kids were, sitting in a window-less room the entire duration of the initial questions, exam, a significant waiting period, and final adult discussions. As long as we provided them with a few toys here or snacks there, they were pretty cheerful. We couldn't have asked for more. Unfortunately, Michael has been recommended for speech therapy (not a big surprise), with some goals set down in stone. The two experts (a speech and a physical therapist) had some fascinating observations which may explain a lot....about both kids. But, anyway, we were happy with how the evaluation went and look forward to Michael's progress!

Is He Going to Marry Her????

After last week's successful preschool playdate, we went for it again with another classmate. This time it was Katie's male buddy, Jaden. Much to Katie's chagrin, Jaden had no interest in dress-up or fairy figurines; but the kids loved playing with her dinosaurs and Matchbox cars. (What kid wouldn't??) Jaden's mother told me that he talks about Katie so much that his family has started to rib him about her. Apparently, when he told his grandma and cousin that he was coming to Katie's house today, his cousin got upset. She was worried that he would go and never return, asking "Is he going to marry her??" No, little cousin, no wedding today; but we plan for more playdates in the future!

In Concert

Dad and Katie ventured downtown this afternoon to take in a concert by the Laurie Berkner Band. It was a last minute decision. We've been spending a lot of time watching her Youtube videos and Katie was very excited to hear about the show advertised in this weekend's newspaper. The birthday party theme and requirement to wear a party dress and hat pretty much sealed the deal. Anyway, great show for a rainy day. And Mike is currently driving Traci nuts singing Laurie Berkner songs all night long. Sad, but he indeed has a favorite...

Who's Ticklish?

Guess who is the most ticklish little boy in the world?

Preschool Pals

Katie had her very first playdate with preschool buddies today, and it was a smashing success! She invited two girl friends, Wren (Left in picture) and Zoe (Right), to come and play dress-up. Perhaps everybody was on their best behavior because it was a new experience, but the girls did a fabulous job sharing and actually playing WITH each other (as opposed to hanging out in different corners of the room with different toys). They played some hide-and-seek, dressed up as princesses, and cooked the mommies some pretend lunch with thier little microwave. And, of course, Michael followed them around whereever they went! After some fun play time, the girls, as pictured, had a pizza picnic in the living room while the mommies gabbed about elementary schools, their prior careers, and the neighborhood. It was such a success that we've already scheduled another! (How long before Michael gets sick of being dragged to girlie playdates?)

Wow, That's a Big Toodee!!

Well, lookee there! We finally broke down and purchased Daddy's dream toy, the 46" HD TV. (Actually, he wanted the 52", but Mommy put her foot down on that monstrosity.) The kids have been getting used to seeing their favorite shows in life-size clarity. Nothing like a gigantic Yo Gabba Gabba monster staring you in the face! But, Mommy did enjoy watching the Oscars Red Carpet in High Def, and Daddy can't wait to start up with March Madness.